The Best Laid Plans
by Lord Ink Stroke
Summary: Lilly just wanted to have her happily ever after. Humphrey just wanted his childhood crush. Both got denied because of the pack's rules, and both leave the pack with broken hearts. They will know pain, they will know jealousy, they will know the hardships of the wild world, and they will plot the best of plans. However, the best laid plans often go astray, but that's not always bad


**The Best Laid Plans**

**Prologue**

**Happily Never After**

* * *

_What am I doing?_

How Kate wished she had an answer for that question. How she wished it would stop beating the inside of her skull incessantly, scrambling any rational thought into an incomprehensible mess. She'd never been faced with a problem she couldn't overcome when she put her head to it, never been faced with an internal tragedy she couldn't piece together before it became a real issue, but that one question echoing in her mind was an enigma far beyond her understanding.

In that eternal second, surrounded by countless wolves with bated breaths just waiting for her to finish what she'd started, she could see _everything_ around her. She could see Garth's nose just inches from hers, prepared to join them both in eternal marriage; she could see Tony and her own father looking on with relieved faces, worn weary by a lifetime of rivalry and competition for survival; and she could see Lilly, her beloved, delicate sister, staring directly at her and Garth with something in her eyes…were those tears?

Kate wanted to cry too.

It wasn't **fair**! She wanted to scream her lungs out at the heavens, she wanted to curse them with every breath she drew for setting her life on such a cruel path, she wanted to make it pay for making her fall in love with a wolf she would be forced to leave behind for the sake of the pack! She didn't want to take on a husband she knew she could never love, she hated the very idea of it, but it had to be done…right?

_It's…it's for the good of the pack. It is…but why did it have to be me?_

With an effort of will she'd never summoned before, Kate set aside everything holding her back from doing her part as the future leader of the pack. She swallowed her bitter hesitation, took a deep breath, and numbed herself as best as she could.

Then, with a shattered heart, she leant forward.

* * *

_What am I doing here?_

Humphrey, for the first time in his life, pondered a single question. He dedicated his entire mental capacity to finding a suitable answer to his question instead of doing what he would usually do and distract himself with anything else he could think up. It was then, in the midst of his perfect focus, that Humphrey realized that there was something seriously wrong with himself.

He was an aloof, fun-loving omega; he wasn't supposed to be _pondering_ anything, much less his reasons for simply _being somewhere_, even _if_ that _somewhere_ happened to be a cliff overlooking the canyon Kate's marriage was being held in.

Humphrey shook his head, trying to dissipate his thoughts so that he could properly observe what was going on underneath him, but they lingered just on the edge of his conscience. Even though he was the most charismatic guy you could ever meet, he wasn't a very culture-savvy wolf, so the ritual of matrimony itself was kind of a mystery to him. However, he could vaguely recall Shakey talking to him about it sometime in the distant past, and if his memories could be trusted then Kate and Garth were at the final stage of their marriage: the rubbing of noses.

Just one little touch and all of his dreams would be destroyed.

That hurt. That hurt _a lot_. They'd gotten so far along with the marriage without a single hitch, and that stirred things in his heart that he never wanted to feel. The pain brought back the question he'd desperately been trying to avoid: Why was he there? Why had he stopped himself from simply boarding the Canadian Express and riding it as far away from Jasper Park as he could?

Perhaps, he thought, he had hoped that – by some profound miracle – Kate would stand up to every wolf present and directly defy pack law itself by putting a stop to her wedding and admitting her love for him in front of everyone. Seeing the marriage unfold perfectly, however, was a frighteningly sobering experience.

She wasn't going to step away from the altar.

She wasn't going to say that she loved an alpha.

She wasn't willing to risk it all for a chance to love him back.

Then, when things just seemed like they could get any worse for him, Kate leant forward and touched her nose to Garth's.

Humphrey's vision misted over as his pain manifested itself, stinging his cerulean eyes as the tears of heartbreak broke past his clenched eyelids. His lungs burned as he choked on his breath, heaving sobs replacing his previously level breathing. He gave up. He'd lost.

Humphrey, the happy-go-lucky omega, fell into the dark depths of depression.

* * *

**(1 Week Later)**

Life in Jasper Park settled into an undisturbed period of peace and prosperity following the union of the Eastern and Western packs, and – although the official wedding and subsequent feast was seven days ago – the pack's own impromptu festivities were barely beginning to come to an end. Caribou was abundant thanks to unhindered hunts, pups could roam freely without the fear of being attacked by malicious members of a rival pack, and the few heated arguments that would pop up were instantly doused by the omegas.

Life in Jasper Park seemed perfect for everyone, save for one poor female wolf.

* * *

Only after the incandescent sun set below the mountainous horizon – letting the velvety lavender of twilight transition into the infinite primordial beauty of the night – did the half-moon rise to take its place in the sky, framed by an infinite sea of stars. Though it was a sight no different from any other night, it was breathtaking.

Lilly, however, couldn't appreciate any of it. She couldn't appreciate the awe-inspiring display nature was putting on outside of her parents' den, nor could she feel happy about the "era of peace" that the pack had entered.

Sweet, innocent Lilly was ensnared by an inescapable bout of depression that was eating her from the inside out. Sure, she'd put on a smile for everyone, for her parents, and even for Kate, but it was just that: something she _put on_. Only when Kate and Garth had left for their own new den and her parents were soundly asleep around her did she allow her mask of composure to fall away, letting out the tears she'd managed to repress the entire day.

It just hurt _so much_!

She was forced to see Garth with her sister _every single day_! He didn't even look at her anymore, as if the very sight of her physically stung him! His lack of action whatsoever to make amends or at least socialize with her – combined with her sister's obliviousness towards her situation – left Lilly with a festering pool of petty jealousy and soul-rending depression that would haunt her every night before – and during – she slept.

What could she do!?

She didn't want to be forced to watch her first love married with her beloved sister every day for the rest of her life; the pain of being denied just got worse day after day, and her jealousy towards her sister was beginning to bare its ugly green fangs as it turned into boiling spite. She couldn't stay in Jasper Park, that much was for certain, but _what could she do!?_ It's not like she could just…run…away…

Wait. She could do exactly that!

It would let her put some distance between Garth and herself, give her a form of respite from the torture everyday life had become, and stunt the growth of the ugly feelings that had began to develop in her mind. But could she really hold her own in the wild?

Lilly shuddered.

The wild was a terrifying place for a wolf that wasn't at all trained to go up against it, one such as her. It was full of venomous animals whose bites could fell animals much larger than her; it was a proverbial maze, twisting and turning in endless directions, in which she could easily get lost and never be found; and food would not come easily to an omega like her, for there would be no alphas to hunt for her. It would be a rough life if it didn't kill her.

Still, it sounded better than staying in the emotional hell Jasper had become for her.

Lilly blinked away her thoughts for a moment and looked around the den she had slept in since her mother had birthed her unto the world. She could spot that very woman sleeping peacefully just a few feet away from her with her dad at her side, both of the elder wolves snoring lightly as they basked in the peace granted by the pack's union.

_Can I really just leave them like that?_

Lilly rose to her paws and moved closer to her slumbering parents, whom were no less immersed in their dreamless sleep than they were when she was still lying on the ground. Her mother was a strong female – both in mind and in body to a degree that not many could fully appreciate – but when Kate had gone missing she had been broken like the shell of some defenseless turtle being crushed under the weight of a full-grown bear. Her father, although he'd masterfully masked his panic during his Kate's disappearance, had suffered greatly in her absence – his eyes, which no one other than his family dared hold direct contact with, had told Lilly tales about the internal torture he was being put through as he searched for his golden-furred daughter.

_Am I willing to put them through all of that again?_

Lilly wished there was any other way besides leaving to solve her unique dilemma; staying would spell heartbreak and emotional deterioration until the day she drew her last breath, but leaving would bring pain to two of the wolves she loved most in the entire world.

She made a decision she could've never imagined herself making, not even in the worst of her nightmares: she made the selfish one.

"I'm sorry…" Lilly's soft, heartbroken voice was heard by no one as she apologized to her slumbering parents. Leaning her head down, she nuzzled her pure white coat against her mother's golden fur, doing the same to her father's coarse grey coat a few moments later. Neither stirred from their sleep, but it warmed Lilly's heart to feel both of them nuzzle her back unconsciously, feeling her distraught presence. Fresh tears pricked at the edges of her eyes.

"I'm _s-so sorry…_"

With her final apology spoken, Lilly turned away from the wolves that had raised her into the young woman she was and trotted out of the familial den briskly before she lost the nerve to carry out her half-baked plan. Tears glittered in the moonlight as they fell from her eyes, sinking into the fertile soil beneath her paws as she made her way towards the local watering hole.

Lilly wasn't dumb. She knew that an alpha could easily trace her scent towards the railroad tracks she intended to board a train at and connect the dots, and she meant to remedy that so that there was no chance of anyone following her wherever she went. A quick dip in a body of water would be enough to leave her scentless long enough to make her escape and she just reached the one she planned on using.

She didn't think too much about it and jumped directly into the reservoir of cool water, breaking the surface with a splash no one but a few nocturnal woodland creatures heard. Lilly restrained a yelp at the chilling sensation of the liquid robbing her of any warmth she had, scampering out after just a few seconds in the pool of water with her white fur plastered to her trembling body. Nature decided to throw a strong, chilly gust her way to drive home the point.

Lilly shook off the excess water clinging to her as best as she could and moved forward with her plan, not wishing to waste any time lest she be caught by some random wolf out for a midnight stroll. Her thoughts nearly drifted back to – not just the loved ones she was abandoning – but the very life she was going to leave behind, but she stopped them before they began to fester and give rise to doubts.

Within a couple of minutes, she found the break in the tree line that the railroad tracks were situated in. Now, all that was left for her to do was wait until the Canadian Express swung around so that she could hitch a ride to…well, she could think about where she could go whilst she waited.

Kate had spoken about the lands beyond Jasper Park in vivid detail during the matrimonial feast, from the snowy mountains and the bears that inhabited them to the peaceful tranquility she didn't really get to enjoy in the Sawtooth Forest. Lilly smiled a little when she remembered how her mother had badgered her into telling her exactly what she and Humphrey had been up to during their impromptu leave of Jasper Park.

Lilly's smile faded away as that train of thought lead her to another, one she hadn't really explored yet: the disappearance of Humphrey.

No one had seen him ever since he and Kate had hopped off of the very train she was waiting for, and a proper search party hadn't been organized due to all of the commotion the union of the packs had stirred up. Lilly and Humphrey were by no means close friends, not like he was with that trio of omegas he always hung out with, but it was a little disconcerting knowing that a fellow omega had simply vanished without a trace right after returning to the pack.

The ear-splitting wail of the Canadian Express' horn snapped Lilly right out of her musings as it sped towards her, billowing dark smoke into the sky as it raced along the railroad tracks. She prepared herself to board the speeding vehicle, scrunching up her hind legs and bracing them to put enough strength behind her jump. She spotted a conveniently open box car and, with no little amount of fear towards being trampled by the metal beast of human origin, tossed herself into it as quickly as she could. She hit her shoulder hard against the wooden floorboards of the box cart, but the slight pain it instigated in her shoulder was enough to let her know she'd survived. She rose to her paws and moved over to the opening of the cart, lying on her stomach as her eyes lingered on the ever-retreating visage of the park she'd lived in her entire life.

Melancholy struck a chord deep within her, but she didn't let it get the better of her. She _needed_ to get away from there, and although it hurt her greatly, she _had_ to let Jasper Park and all of its inhabitants go until she sorted out everything she was feeling. A forlorn sigh slipped past her lips as she gazed at her home fade away into the horizon, and she felt compelled to speak one last time as a thunderclap rumbled loudly in the distance.

"I'll miss you all…"

* * *

Only after Jasper Park disappeared completely from her vision did Lilly allow herself to lay her head down to try and rest. Sleep eluded her like it had for the past week, but the constant _click-clack_ of the train's wheels against the railroad tracks was oddly soothing enough to lull her to sleep. Her slumber, however, was anything but pleasant.

She twitched and turned in her sleep, tossing around her head as she was haunted by nightmares stronger than ever. Her guilt towards her act of selfishness twisted her dreams into horrifying visages of her grieving parents, crying their eyes out over her sudden disappearance. Rest was not something she felt like she would ever get to enjoy again.

Unbeknownst to her, the world outside of her dreams was beginning to darken as well. Onyx clouds swallowed up the nighttime sky, hiding the moon and the infinite stars from view as the conquered the heavens, casting the world into an unnatural darkness. The only sources of light in the sky were the blinding lightning bolts that would arc between the supercharged clouds as they unleashed a downpour unto the land below. The earth became muddy, weak, and that – combined with the ever-present force of gravity – was enough to force a single boulder to tumble down the hillside the Canadian Express was driving by. It started tumbling downhill slowly, but it began to pick up momentum the longer it fell, bouncing up and down on its journey.

With a terrifying _**CLANG**_, the solid earthen boulder collided against the man-made machine, rocking it with the kinetic force it'd carried with it.

Lilly had a _single second_ after being startled awake to realize that there wasn't any solid ground under her flailing paws, the wind was whistling in her ears, and that the ground was rushing up to meet her _insanely _fast. She'd been tossed out of the box car.

She screamed.

In no time at all, that very scream was cut off as she collided with the unforgiving earth, robbing her lungs of any earth they had and snapping something in her body. She lay on the ground, unconscious after being put through such a shock, but a stinging pain in one of her hind legs brought her back to the waking world. She hissed through her clenched teeth, fighting to endure the pain as salted tears of agony streamed down her drenched face, indistinguishable among the endless rain the dark heavens were casting down.

Cold, hurt, confused, and utterly disoriented, Lilly looked around herself.

She strained her eyes against the onslaught of the rain, but she could only make out trees in every direction she looked. There was nothing definitive about the forest she'd fallen into, so she had no clue of how far she'd gotten from Jasper during she slept.

With a pitiful whimper, Lilly tried to rise to her paws, only to be met with the same excruciating pain in one of her hind legs. Adrenaline began to pump through her veins as the will to survive urged her to bear through the pain, numbing her agony somewhat enough to let her stand up. Then things took a turn for the worst.

Lilly's blood ran cold. Her heart boomed in her chest. Her ears pricked up. Her muscles tensed. She didn't know how she knew, but she was being _watched_.

Shaking with cold – or perhaps intense, primal _fear_ – Lilly scoured the underbrush for whatever it was she sensed. She found nothing on her first search, but just as she was about to stop looking she was met with a pair of cold, blue eyes analyzing her from a nearby shrub. They were the unmistakable eyes of a predator on the hunt.

She ran.

The instinctual terror coursing through her veins overrode the incapacitating pain coming from her hind leg as she pushed her tired body to its limits, burning muscles fueled only by the adrenaline diluting her blood. Lilly heard a bloodthirsty snarl behind her as the predator tore through the underbrush towards her, killer intent radiating from its very being.

The world in Lilly's terrified eyes twisted into a horrifying nightmare; the trees she scrambled past glared at her with their malformed trunks, reaching towards her with thorned limbs; the howling wind screamed in her delicate ears, intermingling with the feral snarls of the monstrosity hunting her down; the very ground under her paws tried to swallow her into its muddy depths, forcing her to pull her paws up with excessive force to avoid getting stuck in its deathtrap.

Lightning split the sky, blinding her. Thunder boomed ominously, deafening her.

The ground under her feet disappeared for the second time that fateful day, sending her tumbling down a hill like the very boulder that had cast her into the madness she found herself in. Bounce. Pain. Bounce. More pain. Bounce. Even more pain.

When she finally hit the ground this time, she didn't get back up.

She could barely feel the puddle of mud rising around her. Any coherent thought she tried to put together was washed away by her body's pain and her psychological trauma, so she didn't even try to think anymore.

Any semblance of time was lost to her as she lay in that pool of murky water and sludgy earth; a minute to her could have been a day and she wouldn't have known any better.

When a pair of jaws clamped down on the scruff of her neck and began to drag her away she didn't even struggle. That was the last thing she felt before the world around her went dark.

* * *

_Author's Note: Thank you for reading the prologue to this story, and I hope you'll stick with it to the very end. This will be a long story that will have both action segments and some that are a little more down to earth. Don't forget to drop a review, if you'd be so kind; they are the only things that keep me motivated to write. Have a good day folks!_


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